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May 28, 2007

Thailand: Children Killed In Islamist Bomb Attack

The current Islamist insurgency in the south of Thailand began on January 4, 2004. Since then, it has claimed the lives of 2,200 people. The insurgency predominantly takes place in the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, but attacks have also taken place in parts of Songkhla province. These regions formerly comprised an independent sultanate called Pattani, which was officially annexed ito Siam (Thailand) in 1902.

Earlier today, state Reuters, TNA English News and the Nation, a bomb was detonated in a market in the Saba Yoi district of Songkhla province. Four people were killed and 26 were injured. Two of the dead were young girls. Two-year old Napaswan Chombodin and eight-year old Amornthip Dangsrithe died at the scene of the blast, and the two adults died later in hospital. 10 of the injured are said to be in a serious condition. One of these - 20 year old Niwat Chuchart suffered serious head injuries, causing brain damage, as well as internal injuries. Doctors were waiting for his condition to stabilize before operating.

According to TNA, the toll of injured is 38. The bombing happened during the rush hour at 3.45 pm local time, and was caused by explosives packed into a motorbike which was parked at the market, near the railway station. Shoppers in the market were buying provisions for their evening meals.

Saba Yai district is not far from Hat Yai, where a series of coordinated bomb attacks took place on Sunday night (May 27). These seven explosions were less severe than the market blast today, but still caused 13 people to be injured. The Sunday blasts were similar in some ways to the coordinated attacks upon Hat Yai which took place on September 16 last year. 70 people had been injured in last year's attacks, and five people had died. Hat Yai is the main city of the province, and is regarded as a tourist center, unlike the locations in the other three southern provinces.

The first of Sunday's blasts took place at 9 pm local time in front of the Thoengsia Siang Tueng Foundation. Shortly after, the other blasts ensued, targeting a house shrine in front of Big C superstore, Lotus hypermarket and Ratri drugstore on Suppasan Rangsan road, the Tong Siang Tueng intersection, Pab Nai Nang restaurant on Thammanoonvithee road, the JB Hotel and also an area outside the Hat Yai Garden Home hotel.

The Big C superstore had been hit in the September 2006 attacks. One bomb at the Lotus hypermarket had failed to explode, and it was defused safely. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who had masterminded the coup which tok place on September 19, three days after the first Hat Yai attacks, said that Sunday's bombs were intended to cause disturbance, rather than widespread injuries.

On April 3, 2005, Hat Yai airport had been the target of a bomb attack. Police have claimed that SUnday's bombs were of a type used in the New Years Eve attacks upon Bangkok which killed two and injured 36 others.

The attacks against schools in the south have caused 30 Buddhist teachers to request transfers out of the stricken provinces. On Saturday, a primary school in Narathiwat province was attacked by arsonists. The Ban Supeh school in Rueso district was saved by villagers who had extinguished the flames. On Sunday at 9.30 pm local time, arsonists returned, armed with guns. They held defense volunteers hostage, and then set the remaining buildings of the school alight. All 15 of the school's classrooms were destroyed in Sunday's blaze. The attackers felled trees and lay spikes in the road to prevent firefighters and emergency services from reaching the scene.

On Friday and Saturday, three people were shot dead in Narathiwat province. A village head man was killed by gunmen riding in a pick-up truck on Friday night. On Saturday, a man named as Anhuan Loding was leaving a tea shop in Rueso district to mount his motorcycle when he was shot at. When he lay on the ground, he was shot again in the head. An hour later, a man named as Rose Mama was going to work at a rubber plantation in Cho Ai Rong (Cho-I-Rong or Joh-I-Rong) district when he was shot in the head and body by a gunmen riding a motorcycle.

This morning in Si Sakhon district in Narathiwat province, two bed sellers were injured when they were shot at by a gunmen who was riding pillion on a motorcycle.

In Bacho district of Narathiwat, a Muslim policeman, 42-year old senior sergeant Abdul Parik Saleh was shot at close range by two gunmen as he stopped at an outdoor market.

In Yala, a former community police volunteer, 28-year old Wicha Tohka, was shot in the right knee and foot as he rode his motorcycle home from a soccer game.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 28, 2007 5:21 PM

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